Harry Potter Fans not all that into Magic, Witchcraft
Glancing back at Oberon Zell's sporadic blog, I see mention of the "Azkatraz" Harry Potter convention in San Francisco last July. (Scroll down to the "Escape from Azkatraz" subhead in Aug. 1, 2009 entry.)
The Zells took a vendor space for their Mythic Images business of New Age, Pagan, and Goddess-oriented images, etc.
But it was not a very successful show, as Oberon notes:
And that gets me to the second important lesson we learned: Harry Potter fans aren’t interested in Wizardry, Witchcraft, Magick, an online school, or anything that isn’t specifically and only about the Harry Potter stories and characters. The only successful vendor was the one selling licensed trademark Harry Potter merchandise—such as Hogwarts House patches and regalia, movie replica wands, Harry Potter games and toys—and pointy hats. I bought a really nice new one,as well as several books from the book vendors. And we sold two copies of the A Wizard's Bestiary: A Menagerie of Myth, Magic, and Mystery
by managing to convince some folks that the magickal beasts featured in the Harry Potter stories could be found in this book. This is true, and I do hope they’ll go on to read about other beasties as well.
I don't doubt his observations. It's not that the Harry Potter books "drive children to witchcraft," it is more that some Pagan Witches hope that Potter-readers will wonder what real witchcraft is. Most, however, probably will not, having enjoyed the stories just as stories.
The Zells took a vendor space for their Mythic Images business of New Age, Pagan, and Goddess-oriented images, etc.
But it was not a very successful show, as Oberon notes:
And that gets me to the second important lesson we learned: Harry Potter fans aren’t interested in Wizardry, Witchcraft, Magick, an online school, or anything that isn’t specifically and only about the Harry Potter stories and characters. The only successful vendor was the one selling licensed trademark Harry Potter merchandise—such as Hogwarts House patches and regalia, movie replica wands, Harry Potter games and toys—and pointy hats. I bought a really nice new one,as well as several books from the book vendors. And we sold two copies of the A Wizard's Bestiary: A Menagerie of Myth, Magic, and Mystery
by managing to convince some folks that the magickal beasts featured in the Harry Potter stories could be found in this book. This is true, and I do hope they’ll go on to read about other beasties as well.I don't doubt his observations. It's not that the Harry Potter books "drive children to witchcraft," it is more that some Pagan Witches hope that Potter-readers will wonder what real witchcraft is. Most, however, probably will not, having enjoyed the stories just as stories.
Labels: books, publishing, Witchcraft, Writing
posted by Chas S. Clifton at 9:57 AM Permalink
2 Comments:
It makes sense to me that members of one fandom (Harry Potter) do not necessarily belong to another fandom (occulture or magic), no matter how the fandoms might overlap in content (text about magic or occulture).
The Harry Potter story universe revolves around occulture and magical themes. This makes it of great interest to the occulture fandom. May occulture fans also affiliate with Potter fandom.
But if you were a Potter fan who didn't find occulture inherently interesting or crucial to your Potter fan activities, that fandom would be irrelevant.
This is where many occulture and entertainment package critics go wrong--they insist that fandom affiliations with an entertainment package always requires affiliation with occulture fandom.
(Personal example--I'm a fan of Japanese robot toys, but not of the animes, magazines, or videos about the robots.)
Hi,
I like this article but..
last night i went to the midnight premiere of harry potter and the half blood prince! I was honestly so disappointed! was it just me or did it seem very choppy and for some reason didn't feel like it was a harry potter movie. Don't get me wrong some of the parts in it were either really funny or somewhat scary but i really was not satisfied. I don't know, what did you think?? Am i wrong? Give me your opinions..
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